"We feel this package of prospects we received today was far and away the best offer, the best possibility, that we've discussed with any club since we started this process roughly a year ago or so". In 1973, the Cubs traded nine-time All-Star Ron Santo to the White Sox for a total of four players, including future Cy Young victor and current White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone. And our prospects, at this moment in time, are more valuable to the White Sox then they are to us...

Thursday brought the latest victory for the White Sox organization, one with grand promise for the future.

Jimenez, 20, is the fifth-best prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America and renowned for his power. He is also the No. 8 ranked prospect overall on MLB.com's Top prospects list. Rose and Flete are Single-A infielders.

But making that trade now comes at a cost beyond Jimenez and Cease, the Cubs' top two prospects.

The White Sox also signed prized Cuban prospect Luis Robert to a minor league deal in May. Though they paid a high price in prospects, the Cubs didn't have to include any current major leaguers to get Quintana.

For a team searching desperately for a cure to a month-long slump, perhaps this is exactly what the Yankees need: they start the second half by heading to Boston for a weekend showdown, knowing they've owned the Red Sox this season.

You could substitute Clint Frazier for Rutherford, except he's much closer to the big leagues than Jimenez _ or Rutherford.

Of course Epsteinsaid that the trade "didn't have a lot to do with the Brewers", who he admitted were "legitimate, strong contenders". Those two, err, colorful pseudonyms belong to a pair of Reddit users who contribute to r/whitesox, a thread for Chicago White Sox fans. Hahn called Quintana a "great pitcher" and a "great person with a tremendous clubhouse presence". The two then talked face-to-face during the All-Star break in Miami this week, ducking behind a Rawlings exhibit to avoid being seen. At the time nobody had, writing it off as rumor - when wetbutt23 rolled in, the source of the information, other Redditors needled him for extra information. They had been linked to several top names on the market including young controllable pitchers like Sonny Gray and Chris Archer, as well as veteran options such as Justin Verlander. "He's a potential front end of the rotation starter, three-plus pitches and tremendous makeup".

Hahn said earlier this season that he was willing to do business with the Cubs, but speculation continued that he would really deal with the crosstown rival. The White Sox have continued a masterful rebuild, going from one of the worst farm systems in the game to possibly the very best in less than one year.

For a team that is in win-now mode, it makes sense to get a good starter for the next three and a half years in exchange for sports' ultimate question mark, minor league prospects, who will bolster a rebuilding team's farm system. Flete is better at second but can also play shortstop.